The present invention relates to a composition for preventing or treating a metabolic disease, the composition including a stereoisomer of isonitramine or a derivative thereof, or a racemic mixture of the stereoisomers.
As the standard of living improves with the development of the economy, the number of modern people who belong to obesity, which is the main cause of metabolic diseases, is rapidly increasing. In particular, it is recently reported that one third of Americans and 20% of children are obese patients in the United States. That is, these statistics do not simply mean the increase in the numbers, but also mean that health threats of modern people have increased.
In this regard, the facts that obesity is associated with a high incidence of metabolic disorders of carbohydrates and diseases such as non-insulin dependent diabetes mellitus (NIDDM, type II diabetes), and that weight gain exacerbates existing diabetes have been reported. In addition, a number of studies have shown that obesity precedes impaired glucose tolerance (IGT) and diabetes (see Carey V J. et al., Body fat distribution and risk of non-insulin-dependent diabetes mellitus in women, The nurses' health study, Am J Epidemiol, 145, pp. 614-619, 1997). For example, Framingham's study found the frequent occurrence of IGT in obese people while most other studies found that obese people with IGT are high-risk people for the occurrence of NIDDM.
According to a glucose tolerance test (GTT) that is one of methods of diagnosing diabetes and measures blood glucose before and after eating a certain amount of glucose, many obese patients show normal blood glucose response, but also show increased insulin resistance which causes insulin secretion response more frequently than normal people. Such insulin resistance is one of main symptoms of obesity and NIDDM, and is observed from the beginning of obesity.
Although various hypotheses about the mechanism of decreased insulin metabolism in obesity have been proposed, but there is no definite mechanism yet. However, an insulin receptor related to the insulin metabolism, a glucose transporter, an enzymes related to glycogenesis and glycolysis have been observed to decrease in the insulin metabolism, and in this regard, the decrease in the insulin metabolism is understood as a secondary phenomenon caused by obesity (Golay A. et al., Obesity and NIDDMP, the retrograde regulation concept, Diabetes Rev, 5, pp. 69-82, 1997).
Meanwhile, the recently published reports show that metabolic messengers or factors secreted from adipocytes increase insulin resistance by inhibiting the insulin metabolism in muscles and liver. Here, the most representative factor is free fatty acid (FFA), which is produced by hydrolysis of fatty acids in triglycerides stored in an adipose tissue. In addition, TNF and leptin that are secreted from adipocytes are suggested to cause insulin resistance (Hotamisligil G S. et al., Tumor necrosis factor a, a key component of the obesity-diabetes link, Diabetes, 43, pp. 1271-12′78, 1994).
In obesity, lipid is the main energy metabolism with lipid degradation and lipid synthesis that are both increased. The increase in lipid degradation and consequent increased use of FFAs are the most significant features of obesity, especially abdominal obesity. High correlation between lipid volume and lipid oxidation is observed, suggesting that the increase in lipid volume is considered as a cause of increased serum FFA and lipid oxidation.
Furthermore, more than 70% of people with type II diabetes are obese, and the risk of developing other diseases such as hypertension, hyperlipidemia, and some cancers are reported to be increased from obesity.
However, to date, there has not been developed a drug for the treatment of metabolic diseases, and attempts to treat metabolic diseases using drugs for treating diabetes, hyperlipidemia, and hypertension have limitations as medicines.
Therefore, it is necessary to develop technologies that can effectively prevent and treat metabolic diseases by more efficiently controlling the induction mechanism of obesity and metabolic diseases induced by obesity.
In this regard, the present inventors have completed the present disclosure by confirming that a pharmaceutical composition and a health food have excellent effects of treating metabolic diseases, each of which includes, as an active ingredient, a stereoisomer of isonitramine or a derivative thereof, or a racemic mixture of the stereoisomers.
Therefore, the present disclosure is aimed to provide a pharmaceutical composition and a health food for preventing or treating a metabolic disease, each of which includes, as an active ingredient, a stereoisomer of isonitramine or a derivative thereof, or a racemic mixture of the stereoisomers.